December 2009

A tradition that West Seattleites look forward to every holiday season is the arrival of the Christmas Ships. It's put on by Argosy Cruises and you can actually join the cruise on the lead boat or a parade boat.

If you own your own boat, Argosy suggests that you are welcome to add lights to your vessel and join in the festival and help form the largest holiday floating parade in the world!. The Argosy Christmas Ship™ festival is a holiday celebration that has been a Northwest tradition for 60 years. Its main purpose is to bring communities together to celebrate the holiday season.

Choirs onboard sing 20-minute performances, all broadcast via state-of-the-art speaker system.

On shore, hundreds of people gather around roaring bonfires anticipating the arrival of the Christmas Ship™.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12
CHOIR: Northwest Girlchoir - Vivace
5:15-5:35 Seacrest Marina*
CHOIR: Canterbury Belles
8:50-9:10 Lowman Beach*,
9:40-10:00 Alki Beach*

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 13
CHOIR: Soundwave
7:10-7:30 Don Armeni*

On a clear and cold Saturday morning, volunteers from around Federal Way descended upon the Dumas Bay Preserve.

While most of America sipped its morning coffee in the comfort of the warm indoors, this group of environmental stewards picked up hand trowels and limb shears to help give back to their community's green spaces.

Their task: Help save the trees and forest floor of the Dumas Bay Preserve from its most invasive enemy, English ivy.

In an effort spearheaded by the Friends of the Hylebos (www.hylebos.org) and Seattle-based Earth Corps, these volunteers helped stop the spread of this invasive species in one of the last remaining public urban forests in Federal Way.

Recent surveys by the Friends found that the Dumas Bay Preserve is 25%-100% invaded by Ivy. If left untreated, the ivy will eventually kill the trees, replacing a beautiful, green forest with an ivy desert.

Earth Corps, a group of restoration specialists, taught volunteers how to coil the removed vines and build compost piles on the forest floor that keep the vines from re-rooting.

On Wednesday, December 9, 7 p.m., SEATTLE CHANNEL 21, tune in and call 206-684-8821 or email askthemayor@seattle.gov and communicate in real time with the mayor and host C.R.Douglas. If you can't call or email then, call 206-684-8821 or email askthemayor@seattle.gov anytime to record your question for the mayor.

After eight years as Seattle mayor, Greg Nickels is leaving office. What does he believe is his most important legacy? What does Nickels believe are the biggest challenges for his successor Mayor-elect Mike McGinn? Does the mayor believe that a tunnel will still replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct? Want to have your questions answered on live TV?

On Wednesday, December 9, 7 p.m. call 206-684-8821 and talk to the mayor and SEATTLE CHANNEL host C.R.Douglas. If you can't call then, call 206-684-8821 anytime (right now for instance!) and have your question recorded for the show. Or email your question by replying to this email or writing to askthemayor@seattle.gov anytime the inspiration strikes you.

Winter Fantasy Concert
St. John's Episcopal Church
3050 California Ave. S.W.
206-935-5490
Saturday, Dec. 12, 11 a.m. Endolyne Children's Choir presents a winter performance. Tickets are available at the door or contact Juliet Nazarino info@endolyne.org 206-935-5490. Winter sessions starts on Jan. 5. Rehearsals take place at St. John's. New singers welcome.

A Kenyon Christmas
Kenyon Hall
7904 35th Ave S.W.
206-937-3613
December 18 and 19, 7:30 p.m. soprano Connie Corrick, tenor Aaron Shanks, dance troupe Balarico, and a special appearance by The Nashville Nightingale, all accompanied by host Lou Magor. Traditional and not-so-traditional holiday music for the entire family. Tickets $8-$14. Youngsters 18 and under free.

Amahl and the Night Visitors
Youngstown Cultural Arts Center
4408 Delridge Way S.W.
206-937-1394

This long time Gatewood Hill resident just bubbled over when he talked about living in West Seattle. He is one happy fella, a former tool and die machinist he is now almost 86-years-old.
Fritz likes to sit on the bench at Fred Meyer in Burien while his wife shops and he chats amiably with others.
He is originally from BADEN BADEN.
Baden Baden is in Southern Germany and is famous world wide for the healing waters of its copious springs.
Most West Seattleites feel special about living here and have no wish to move anywhere else.
With most homes from Alki to Endolyne providing views east and west of 35th S.W. residents here feel privileged. I asked him if he ever tired of rain and he laughed. "Believe me, West Seattle is as good as it gets.I just love the climate, my neighbors, my home."

The Woodland Park Zoo is offering Seattle residents the opportunity to take a break from the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping and join the animals at this year's Winter Celebration.

Grizzlies, otters, elephants and more will enjoy holiday-themed treats, such as wreaths trimmed with fish or assorted fruit, evergreen trees with ornamental fruit or wrapped boxes containing favorite snacks.

Winter Celebration is part of the zoo’s ongoing program to help enrich the lives of the zoo’s animals, promote natural animal behavior, keep animals mentally and physically stimulated and engage zoo visitors.

The Winter Celebration runs from Dec. 21 to Dec. 23 and Dec. 28 to Dec. 30. The schedule is as follows:

Dec. 21 and Dec. 28:

11 a.m. – sun bears
Noon – grizzlies
1:30 p.m. – pigs
2 p.m. – elephants

Dec. 22 and Dec. 29:

11 a.m. – orangutans
Noon – otters
1 p.m. – golden lion tamarins
2 p.m. – tiger

Dec. 23 and Dec. 30:

11 a.m. – snow leopard cubs
1 p.m. – gorillas
1:30 p.m. – penguins
2 p.m. – Australian birds and keas

I’ve been accused of reading too much depressing fiction. Novels about people overcoming adversity don’t really seem depressing to me, but unless they’re about famous people, you don’t know whether they’ll rise above it in any way until the end. Humor at its best is one way to surmount grim reality, so a humorous novel about believable people with real problems is a sure bet, and the humor is a relief throughout the book.

Last year I picked three titles that were reviewed in the Seattle Times. Is The Empress of Weehawken based on author Irene Dische’s real grandmother? Bigoted and meddlesome, she’s a marvelous character to satirize, but the satire never seems cruel. Karen Joy Fowler seems to reinvent herself with every book. Wit’s End is a modern spoof about mysteries and their fans.

Transitional Resource's Annual Holiday Open House
Join us in celebrating the season with good friends and holiday cheer!
Wednesday December 9, 2009
6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
2980 SW Avalon Way

Friday Night Knitting Capers
Capers
4521 California Ave. S. W.
206-932-0371
Friday, Dec. 11, 6:30-9 p.m. Demonstrations of ArtFelt and Needle Felting, raffles of goodies from Capers and Seattle Yarn. All proceeds go to the West Seattle Food Bank. Beverages provided.

The Highland Park Improvement Club Holiday Potluck and Dance
is a warm tradition that gathers friends and neighbors to celebrate the season by sharing food and good times, and collecting toys for children and food for the food bank.

Saturday Dec 12
happy hour at 6:30
potluck at 7 (byob)
music by Lauren Petrie

$5/person + food bank donation + unwrapped gift for a child

Parent's Night Out - Youth Game Night
Alki Kid's Place
6115 S.W. Hinds St.
206-938-0145

Something is seriously wrong with our community when a perfectly capable and willing volunteer is not allowed to keep up the landscaping on the premises of our library.

Since when did rules and regulations override common sense?

Are you kidding me? We have to put up with weeds, scorched plants, and cigarette butts when we go to our library because it’s against the “rules” to allow a volunteer to lend a hand to the overworked union gardeners?

I happen to be the daughter of an amazing woman who has made it her project to beautify our whole industrial block! Union or not, she has never been denied permission to plant a few bulbs here, hang a pot there.

To the contrary, thanks and compliments have been showered upon her and I feel proud to pull weeds at her side in front of a once unkempt building, when the employees have all gone home.

Sure, there has to be some kind of volunteer procedure so that you don’t have 10 different volunteers doing their own style of gardening in front of the same library, but to nip it in the bud completely, c’mon now.

Jenny Foster
Ballard

How to contact the West Seattle Herald staff:

Ken Robinson (managing editor), kenr@robinsonnews.com

Patrick Robinson (web editor), pr@robinsonnews.com

Steve Shay (reporter/photographer) 206.948.0394, steves@robinsonnews.com

Richard Sherman (ad sales) 206.356.7288, richards@robinsonnews.com

Lauren Grosskopf (ad sales) 206.962.0460 laureng@robinsonnews.com

Main office (Burien) 206.708.1378